I have done a drabble. Well… this is considered a drabble, right? I never was clear on drabbles. Yada yada yada, no owny Final Fantasy, etc. Enjoy the one-shot, won't you? And leave a review. Or die. LOL, JK…eheheh… maybe.

onyx

That cadet, the blonde one from that backwater town… he certainly was an odd one, Zack had decided.

It wasn't just the way that, when they had first met, the cadet had locked up upon seeing him – and even today, even when Zack's presence near the cadet is now frequent, the SOLDIER occasionally still notices slightly glazed, wistful glances thrown in his direction. At first, Zack had wondered if perhaps the tiny cadet went for that side of the fence, if you catch my drift, but as time passed and – though there wasn't a rosy blush in sight – the looks didn't gradually stop… well.

It wasn't the way that he sometimes got this lost look on his face, like he was wondering why he was there, or what he was doing, who he was. Though, soon after this sort of lapse, there was always a disgruntled, haggard scowl, and for a few hours after that, Zack could never really get the cadet to cheer up; he would just go about his business with a faraway look in his eyes, like he was reliving distant memories that Zack had no knowledge of.

It happened other times, too; it wasn't just called on by whatever that lost expression seemed to be. Anything could trigger the cadet to zone out like that; seeing Angeal's – Zack's – buster sword, for instance. Or ribbons, or being near Seph, or the Turks, mako syringes, flowers… Seemingly random things, though Zack got a feeling they were all connected somehow. If only he knew what was going on in that little cadet's brain…

But no. While those had surely helped the cause, they weren't quite what made him think the blond cadet was so strange.

It was the way he held himself. Strong. Unyielding. Determined, perhaps? Nothing like the shy, withdrawn, awkward boy one might expect of a country-born bastard with a written history of being bullied. A self-assured, taciturn, maybe even deadly warrior. It was so surprising, and indeed a little baffling, when Zack had first noticed it. The cadet's gait was strong, balanced; unexpected of a barely pubescent boy such as he, and out of place. It was the way he seemed so solid when he fought, like it was something he'd been doing all his life. Somehow the blond cadet displayed a disturbing amount of grace with his blunt, direct, and apparently self-taught fighting style. It just wasn't the ease and fighting experience a boy from a hick town and no remarkable warriors should have. And to make things worse, sometimes Zack even thought he might be holding back.

Then there was the way he talked, especially to those his age or younger; occasionally, even those who were older or of higher rank. He sounded so… patronizing, sometimes, or – dare he say it? – old. Like he was an ancient, wise sage, so worldly, so knowledgeable; and all others were but naïve children scrounging for maturity they hadn't yet gained. Like he knew things others only dreamed of, like he had lived a life others could barely imagine.

But that was all silly, anyway. Cloud was Cloud; quiet, insightful, a little obscure sometimes. It was so strange, and yet, he had come to know it as Cloud. Zack snorted quietly at his thoughts as he stared at the slight cadet across the bland, cold, table of the cafeteria, dismissing his concerns for another time. Right now, he had a self-appointed mission to undertake. After all, Spiky was getting that faraway look in his eyes again…

Noticed this collecting dust in my Documents folder. Decided to upload for the masses. Nice :)